I came into this world kicking and screaming in Klerksdorp.
I was bracing myself for what I now know to be a preordained roller coaster ride.
I already had a brother, my sister was born a year later and my mom turned 21.
My mom had left school in Std. 9 to help support her family financially. She had grown up in a mining town and hadn't travelled.
My dad on the other hand had studied in South Africa and in Edinburgh and had travelled the world.
He was a "de Wet", family of the Boer General de Wet and was the minister of the local church.
This proved to be an explosive combination.
It is safe to say that I had a very well disciplined Presbyterian upbringing, which often involved the belt.
I remember on one occasion my mom getting us to march up and down the passage singing "I'm a brave, brave mouse, I go marching through the house....."
My reading was controlled and limited to Barbara Cartland romance. My education as to "how to be a lady"......It goes like this........You see a man in a billowing white shirt, riding a horse, you slump into a dead faint, he scoops you up and the rest is "His" story.......
At home the music choice was marching classics.
I'll skip to the last 3 years of my schooling which was spent at Potch Girls High.
I spent much of my time in a music room playing the piano and played the Radetsky march for the girls entering and leaving assembly.
I took flute lessons at the neighbouring school and was the "classical slot" in the prizegiving programme.
I was accepted for the Western Transvaal Choir and we sang weekly at Potch University.
I was chosen to sing overseas and after returning the choir joined with others and we sang Vivaldi's Gloria Deo with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra........one of my favorite memories.
I was accepted to Wits to study a BMus but this didn't last long. Barbara Cartland proved to be a less than competent teacher of social reality.
I went on to do Cobol Programming at Infoplan in Pretoria and loved it.
I was called into the office after a few months and was expecting a promotion.
Apparently I was a "security risk". My mom had been writing to an ANC friend who had been involved in a bombing incident. Remember that this was in 1980. At the time that I was being "expelled", the security police were all over the farm in Tierpoort.
The next best thing was to get married, so I did.
Little did I know that I was jumping from the fire into the frying pan.
With the marriage came a change of initials and I received my MgM status and a life to match.
Polo in the winter, skiing in the summer and very busy social life.
We lived in the Free State.
I had 3 beautiful and very creative children who went to school in Natal.
Up and down van Reenen's Pass on a weekly basis for ten years.
My mom, exempt by her age had applied to Unisa and done her theology degree. She also did an H.E.D and then went overseas to work and travel.
She is now an Anglican Priest.
One by one the children left and it was my que to step out on my own.
I arrived in Pretoria 7 years ago.
The cage of the roller coaster hit the water and created a huge wave.
The water settled to a calm pool and I realise the purpose of the ride.
I bought a little house.
I have developed a medicinal herb garden and enjoy bird watching. The only music I play now is the Djemi drum, every two weeks in a drumming circle.
My children brought me a cat called Ninja.
I'm a Pilates instructor and give 35 lessons a week.
I read, write and blog. My bookcase is full of books on Psycology, philosophy, religious ceremony and ancient cultures. My favorite book find is "Jewish folklore". I went to Schul after getting permission from the Rabbi.
"There are no mistakes".
In my old life I was a whiskey drinking, chain smoking, pill popping socialite.
Today I drink pure water, green tea, black coffee and use only plant medication.
With the help of Toastmasters I aspire to be an inspiration speaker to women who need inspiration.
I want to be a social light.
Mr. Toastmaster.
